Drinks are on me
by mieh
Summary: Harvey saves Donna from a bad date. She thanks him by offering drinks on her.


**Hi! I'm just here with this little birthday present for Blue. You, my friend, are a bright spot of warm light, inspiring me to be kind and strong. To be appreciative and supportive. To rise above and to love above all else. I'm proud of you. Happy birthday!**

**(AN: I started writing this before 816 so I guess now I have to call it AU? Still 8B. Still Darvey. Still in love.)**

* * *

He's been going home earlier the past couple of months. Today, though, he's still at the office, more listening to music than doing any actual work, but he just didn't feel like leaving. Something strangely unsettled inside his mind. Something about how he had to take shit from Gretchen because she was undeniably right; something about how he had to swallow his pride and make peace with Louis; something else about what Gretchen said.

Yes, it was Donna who usually gave him those kind of speeches. But apparently she had plans that night.

He's working on signing a bunch of documents that had been pilling on his desk when his phone buzzes, an eyebrow popping up when he sees the name on the caller ID.

"Hey."

"Hey, hm, are you busy?" She sounds rushed and hesitant, which is not a usual combination for her.

"Still at the office, but not really. Why?"

"I need a favor."

His eyes automatically glance to the watch on his wrist. What kind of favor could she need at 9 PM on a Wednesday _outside_ the office?

"Shoot."

"Remember when I used to come up with emergencies to get you out of dates with Louis? I kind of need you to do the same."

"What are you talking about? Louis is at his office."

"No, I don't mean–" there's a frustrated sigh at the other end of the line. "I need you to get me out of a date."

He's stunned silent, but recovers clearing his throat. "Where are you?"

"Wh– I'm at Per Se. Listen, can you just call me in a couple minutes with a huge emergency and– oh shit, he's coming back. Call me!"

She hangs in such a rush, he would chuckle if it weren't for the bitter aftertaste of knowing she's out on a date with whatever guy, even though it's clearly not going well.

It's about fifteen minutes later when he walks into Per Se and spots her sat there, bare shoulders and a polite smile on her lips as the man in front of her talks with his hands. He walks towards them and smirks when her eyes widen at the sight of him. He quickly dials back to his aggravated expression before the man turns around, following Donna's sight.

His poker face almost slips when he realizes the man with her is someone he knows. A client.

"Harvey!" Donna says, and the surprise in her tone is half acted, half real.

He nods in her direction before acknowledging Kessler. "Thomas, good evening. I apologize for interrupting your dinner, but we have a huge emergency." He shoots Donna his best alarmed glance.

"Oh. What happened?" she asks.

"Remember that thing you said was going to come back to bite us in the ass? Well, it just did and the firm needs you."

"Is everything okay?" Thomas asks concerned.

"Not exactly. I can't disclose anything since it's privileged information, I'm sure you understand…"

"Of course!" Kessler is quick to reassure.

"... but we really need our COO right now." His serious tone and the look in his eye leaves no room for doubt.

Donna places her napkin on the table. "I'm so sorry, Thomas. Like you said, work is…"

He nods and waves and assures her he understand and she struts her way out of the restaurant following Harvey's steps and, after he helps her to her coat and they walk out into the streets, she finally allows herself a deep, full breath of the crips night air followed by a giggle.

"I knew you were a good actor, but I think you just outdid yourself there," she says.

Harvey puts both his hands in his pockets and smiles smugly at her as they slowly walk away from Per Se.

"You never asked me to get you out of a date before. Not even that time the guy spilled beer on your shoes."

"Ugh, don't remind me," she winces and he laughs. "Well, I didn't need help to tell that loser to scram, but _this_ loser in particular, as I'm sure you gathered, is a more delicate situation."

"Yes. He's a client."

She side glances him, a wordless question he chooses not to respond and instead says, "How did that happen?"

She sighs. "I met him last week. I helped him pick a new general counsel for his company and we, hm, we flirted a bit. It was fun and harmless until he asked me out. I said no at first, but then…"

She stops short of explaining how her and Gretchen had both rationalized there was nothing stopping her from 'getting her freak on'. She winces again inadvertently.

"He was so much better in text," she says, changing the direction of her explanations. "Emoji game was strong."

He chuckles and asks, though he's not sure he really wants to know, "So what happened tonight?"

"Sooo boring!" she says dramatically and his grims widens. Maybe he did want to know that.

"Louis thinks he's a good guy."

"Yes! Too much! What a wuss!"

"A wuss?!" He's flat out laughing now.

Donna shrugs. "You know, there really should be a limit of time a person is allowed to talk about lampshades." She's silent for a moment or two before adding, "Thanks for this, Harvey. Hope this isn't too weird."

"How many people did you ask before me?" He asks lightly, the tug of a smirk in the corner of his lips, but she doesn't miss the fact this is the second time he deliberately avoids answering her question.

"Well, I couldn't ask Louis because it's his client and I got into an argument with him tonight about me going out and Katrina didn't pick up so, technically, I only asked you," she says coyly.

He rolls his eyes at her and they stop at a crosswalk. They've slowly walked about a block from the restaurant and it's past the time to part ways.

"Come on," Donna says. "Let me take you out to thank you. Drinks are on me."

She smiles sweetly, asking him out so casually as she reaches and touches his forearm to nudge him.

"Nah, can't," he answers and watches her face fall slightly for a split second before he adds, "Imagine if Kessler sees us out? Let's just go to my place."

They are actually really close to his apartment and he's right – if Thomas sees them out somewhere it would be a disaster – and ultimately she just really wants to have drinks with him. So she pushes her second thoughts to the back of her mind, agrees, and they continue their walk through the town, the fresh night wind catching her hair and a familiar lightness catching her heart.

.

Donna's presence does something to his apartment. He sees it, but can't quite put his finger on what it is. It's like she makes him feel at home, which is utter bullshit since _he is_ at home, so he shakes the thought as he pours them a drink, watching her put one of his records on the player from the corner of his eyes.

"Ugh, can't believe I wasted this dress," she says, accepting the drink and moving to sit on the couch.

He watches her hips swaying under the sparkly midnight blue fabric as she moves, the light from the fireplace catching in her pale shoulders, acting as a spotlight to her freckles attracting him like a siren call. She had always been attractive. Beautiful, really. But this is another level.

"It's a really nice dress."

He forces his eyes away and his body into the armchair in front of her.

"Hey, where's your cactus?" she asks in the sudden silence.

"Dead."

"Oh. Outch." She feigns hurt in hopes it will cover this weird, but very much real, feeling of loss over the little thing.

Harvey gives her a slow smile. "It's in the bedroom. It's sunnier in there."

She rolls her eyes good humored and sips her scotch while he rolls his shirt sleeves up, having already discarded his jacket and tie when he got home.

Crisp white shirt, rolled at the sleeves, a couple of buttons undone. It's too much of a good look on him and she tries not to stare.

"So." He clears his throat and looks to the side and it couldn't be any easier to read that that's him trying to sound casual. "I didn't know you were dating."

"I'm not _dating_. It was a first date."

"But in general."

"What do you mean?" She frowns in confusion.

"I just didn't know you were… looking. Open for, you know, going on dates."

Something in his eyes, even more than his words, makes her stomach twitch nervously.

"Hm, I... I haven't dated in a while, actually." She opts for honesty and when he doesn't say anything else, just taking a swing of his scotch, she asks, "Why did you think I wasn't?"

He fixes his eyes right on hers for a second too long and she knows she unintentionally cut right to the chase.

Harvey shrugs dismissively. "Same reason you actually weren't, maybe."

She wants to ask what reason is that, but she's afraid of his answer.

"Especially not someone from the office." Now Harvey's the one getting impatient by her silence and cutting to the chase.

She feels ashamed for just one second before she reigns herself and remembers to not apologise for who she is.

"He's not someone from the office."

"Fine. Someone _you work with_."

There is no questions about the accusing hint in his tone. It's clear those words have been engraved in his brain for over a decade and now he's throwing them back at her face.

"We've had this conversation before, Harvey."

"And what conversation is that?"

"The one where I tell you I need to live my life."

"So that's what you want out of life?"

She sighs tiredly. "I don't know, Harvey… Going home to someone? That sounds like a nice life to me."

She sounds sad and that kills the attack he had growing inside right at his throat and he chokes on his resentment.

They stay silent for a moment. Too afraid to look into each other's eyes, too paralyzed to move. She's thinking about leaving, but then he says, "I haven't been dating anyone either. Not since Paula."

She looks at him and sees he's staring into the bottom of his glass, elbows on his knees, voice quiet and low.

She swallows in an attempt to sound normal. "Why not?"

"It's like you said. Going home to someone? Doesn't sound like a good life to me."

"Oh." It's all she manages to say, feeling a lump in her throat and her chest tightening. Regardless of her feelings, he deserves so much more than the loneliness he's resigned himself to and it hurts knowing coming home to this empty apartment is all he wants out of life now. She thinks she should tell him that, but doesn't seem to be able to get the words out.

"I'm not looking anymore, Donna. Now I'm just waiting." His voice brings her out of her thoughts to realize he's now looking at her. His glass is on the coffee table and his eyes are fixed on hers with a hard intent.

"And what are you waiting for?" she asks in a sad inflection, but he actually smirks at her words. The ghost of a memory he doesn't bring up.

"I'm not sure. Maybe you could explain this one to me."

"What?"

"I've been waiting for you. To be ready, to say something, to give me a chance, to… I don't know. Just waiting for you. But if you're out on dates with boring jerks, maybe I've waited too long."

"Harvey-"

"I don't want to come home to just someone, Donna. I don't ever want to do that again because I finally understand I just want to come home to you."

Her lips part slightly, eyes wide and dark, but she doesn't say anything.

"Well, we can go to your place too, if it's that important to you," he teases, a smug smile playing at his lips, but she's Donna and even through her shock she can clearly spot how incredibly nervous he is, trying to cover it up with the joke.

They stare at each other, sat far apart, coffee table between them, and the distance feels ridiculous but so very fitting after thirteen years of having a table and a whole lot of denial separating them. So he smirks. At least now it's just the table.

She hasn't said a word, but that's exactly what gives him confidence or hope or whatever the thing that's making his heart jump inside his chest is called. He stands and she's there cradling her glass in both hands, sitting stiffly and looking up at him like she can't freaking believe him as he slowly approaches her and reaches out his hand.

He waits for only a beat and when she doesn't take it, he reaches for her glass, placing it on the coffee table with one hand and holding her hand with the other, gently pulling her to stand.

"I think we've waited too goddamn long and I have no idea why," he says. His voice is low and hoarse and he's nervous again simply because she's five inches away, hand in his and looking into his eyes in a way he knows means she can read him like a book.

_Good. At least now she knows._

"Harvey, I-"

He doesn't let her finish. Whatever it is, it tastes better than it would have sounded. He licks the words directly from her lips and tongue and it's everything he needs to know.

But she still spells it out for him, running her fingers over the sides of his neck, around his head, through his hair.

Her body is pressed against him and he runs his hands up her sides, over her ribs and the sides of her breasts - she moans softly into his mouth then - until his fingers reach her face and hair and he can't get enough of her.

He feels her nails digging over his back, from his shoulders and down, down to the edge of his pants. He needs to press her up against a surface, any surface, because this isn't enough, but his goddamn living room barely has walls so he wraps his arms tightly around her and thrusts himself forward, loving the little whimper she lets out when he grinds harder.

Her hands smooth down his arms until she meets his at the small of her back. She slides her fingers between his and squeezes his hands and it's no short of amazing how they can communicate without saying any words and how that's no surprise at all.

He squeezes her hands back while his lips reluctantly leave hers, just enough to guide them and their entwined fingers around the couch and through his bedroom door. She's smiling at him but just with her eyes, bright and meaningful and never leaving his while her reddened lips remain parted and silent and waiting.

They're only beside his bed when his mouth meets her shoulder. Kissing the soft skin, running his fingers through her hair while he takes advantage of her strapless dress to run his lips all over her; fisting the hair at the nape of her neck and tugging to gain access to her throat; sucking on her clavicle and digging his teeth into the side of her neck.

She gasps and buckles into him, pulling his shirt from inside his pants. She fuses her mouth with his again, sucking on his top lip as she undoes the buttons on his shirt applying as much efficiency as she does everything else. He grabs her ass, bunching up the fabric of her dress impatiently and she chuckles and moans into his neck as she pushes the shirt off his body.

Her hands slide over his chest and the hard muscle of his abdomen but just as she reaches the button on his pants he's turning her around, a hand gripping her hip and the other moving her hair over her shoulder, mouth immediately finding skin. He kisses her back in a frenzy, open mouthed and hungry, bites on the space where her shoulder meets her neck before doing a swirl with his tongue at the nape of her neck that has her whimpering and reaching back to touch him, arms going up behind herself to reach his head and press his face further into her skin. He takes the opportunity to reach forward and cup her breasts.

He doesn't stop what he's doing with his tongue while his hands blindly search for the tiny zipper at her back, pulling it down much slower than he would have wanted to while he whispers into her ear that it really is a nice dress and it would have been a waste, his breath hot on her ear and his voice deep and _fucking shit_, she just wants him to get her out of that dress.

He lowers his lips to meet each inch of skin the opening zipper reveals and when it's all open and the dress slides down her body and into the floor, he's on his knees behind her, his mouth on the dimple on her lower back and his fingers digging into her thighs.

He kisses along the edge of her panties, bites on it, rasping his teeth on her skin and dislodging the lace fabric from its place a tiny bit. Her knees almost buckle but she holds herself together out of sheer willpower, one hand reaching to the mattress beside her and the other behind to grab his shoulder.

"Harvey," she moans and begs in one single word and he slides his tongue up her spine as he stands.

She turns inside his arms, his hands soft and firm on her waist, to find his eyes cast downwards, fixed on her breasts with something akin to fascination.

"My eyes are up here," she jokes and it's enough to make him meet her sight and grin widely as he backs her into his bed, laying her down while he sucks on her lips.

She palms him over his pants and he hisses into her jaw. She's about to undo the button when his lips leave hers. He's getting up and away from her and she moans in frustration when the hand that was kneading the apex of her thigh leaves her.

"Wh- Uhgn," she moans incoherently. "What are you doing?"

She's lying on his bed wearing only a pair of maroon lace panties, hair disheveled and looking thoroughly kissed while she props herself up on her elbows and looks at him in the most amazing combination of mad and horny he has ever seen and his dick twitches in the confines of his pants messing up the smug ass smile he has on his lips. He gives it a squeeze to calm down and she doesn't fail to notice, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"Don't move," he instructs, quickly moving out of the room.

Before she can protest he's back carrying the glass of scotch he had left on the living room.

"Seriously? Do you need to be drunk for this?"

He sits beside her on the bed and runs his hand down between her breasts, gently pushing her back down.

"You said drinks were on you," he explains, placing a hand on her waist to still her and the other hovering the glass above her stomach. His eyes are fixed on hers and his voice sounds threatening when he says, "I'm holding you to that."

He smirks and focuses his attention on her stomach, carefully turning the drink from the glass into her bellybutton. She giggles and the movement of her shaky breath causes a drop to spill out of its place, sliding over her pale skin down the side of her body, but Harvey leans in and quickly catches it with his tongue, before it reaches the mattress, licking it all the way back up to her bellybutton and then taking his shot.

She moans at his action, bites her lips. "Yes, body shots were exactly what I meant when I offered," she teases mirroring his smirk.

He does it again. Just a drop of the drink on her body which he then sucks eagerly.

She doesn't even notice him putting the glass away but then he's sliding his bottom lip all the way up her body, kissing her ribs, his tongue and the hint of scotch in it making a burning cold trail of shivers run over her skin. He slides his tongue on the underside of her breast before sucking on a nipple, rolling it between his teeth and lips while his fingers mirror the action on the other side, kneading the soft flash and pinching the nipple while she squirms under him.

Her legs are wrapped around his body and she grinds but he's still in those goddamn pants so she sinks her fingers into his scalp to pull him up to her lips and then reaches down, finally freeing him from his clothes in a haste, with help from her feet to push the fabric down his body.

She takes him in her hand, pumping up and down with disregard for the awkward angle and he drops his head into the crook of her neck and the softness of his moan almost makes her lose her rhythm because she just wants to kiss him.

Instead he bites on her earlobe and sucks on her neck as his hand move inside her underwear and then she really does lose sight of what she's doing when his fingers slide down her pussy, smoothly entering her, then back up to drag over her clit.

"Shit… you're so wet," he murmurs against her open mouth as he repeats the movement and she whimpers.

"Just take this off," she says, wiggling beneath him to help maneuver the underwear around her hips.

Harvey slides the fabric down her legs, positioning himself between her thighs on the way back up, kissing the silky skin of her inner thigh as he places her leg over his shoulder.

His tongue does one long slide over her pussy and she arches her back in a deep moan. Her toes curl against the muscle of his back when he sucks on her clit.

"Ughn, _fuck_\- Harvey, stop" she digs her fingers into his back trying to pull him up. "I need you. _Now_."

"You have me now," he smugly smirks against her pussy before diving back in and making her moan loudly.

"Harvey!" she's pretty damn close to screaming his name and his dick has never been harder so he kisses his way up her body, meeting her tongue and offering her a taste of what's been driving him insane.

She strokes his cock and that's more than enough of a distraction to make him weak so she can turn them, his back hitting the mattress and her ending up on all fours on top of him. She likes the way his eyes widen in surprise and arousal before he grabs her hips and tries to pull her to sit on him.

She keeps her ground, leaning down to place a soft kiss on his mouth, pulling his bottom lip between hers and allowing it to snap free slowly. When his eyes open to meet hers he looks dazed, something so deep and powerful in his eyes it stirs everything inside of her. Her heart beats wildly and he can probably feel it, with his hands smoothing her skin, between her breasts and over her chest to fold behind her neck and bring her to him again. This time she gives in, not just to the pull of his hands, but to the pull of every feeling they've both been suppressing and can no longer.

She lowers herself into him in a slow slide down his cock, mouth open against his, breathing labored. Harvey wraps his arms around her body while he waits for her to adjust to his size, thankful for having the moment to adjust to her tightness.

She starts to move and he groans. Her hands placed at the sides of his face, body close to his and her hard nipples dragging against his chest at each slow thrust of her body over his.

The red curtain of her hair dances around them as she moves and he gathers it in his fist to gain access to her neck. When he sucks on her skin she gains speed, grinding into him harder and harder until she's moaning uncontrollably and losing her rhythm and her mind.

His fingers dig into her hips, pulling her harder and faster to match the up thrusts of his own hips. He can't understand how he was able to go thirteen years without hearing the sounds that are coming out of her mouth right now as her walls clench around his cock. She buries her face into the crook of his neck when her moans become louder, teeth sinking into his flesh when she collapses on top of his body in the throes of her orgasm.

He doesn't stop. He keeps thrusting his hips up again and again and kissing her neck and he might be completely out of his mind but he's pretty sure she hasn't stopped coming yet when his own climax crashes over him and the only thing he can remember is hearing her name in his own voice repeatedly.

They don't move, feelings their rapid breathing against the other's chest and stomach. When Donna's hand reach for his face, blindly caressing his cheekbone and temple, he unwraps his arms from the tight embrace he has around her body, turning and laying her on the bed while he slides out of her.

He lies beside her, watching her closed eyes, eyelashes resting over her flushed cheeks, the sheen of sweat over her skin, hair splayed all over his sheets and, fuck, _what the hell had he been waiting for to love her like this?_

She opens her eyes as if she'd heard his thoughts. He wouldn't be too surprised.

"Hey," she says softly, a dreamy smile on the corners of her lips.

"Hey yourself."

"I think we've waited way too long, too," she says as if nothing had happened between the moment he said that and right now.

He reaches for her waist, pulling her closer to him. "And do you know why?"

"Not really, no."

"Thought you were smarter than that, Paulsen," he deadpans and she struggles to keep from chuckling.

"You're the one who went to Harvard."

"Fifty thousand dollars a year to let you get away from me for so long. What a scheme."

She laughs softly, nuzzling into his neck.

He holds her hand, lacing his fingers between hers before he adds in a low tone, "I'm smarter now. I'm not letting you get away."

"Good," she says, "cause I love you."

"That's what I've been saying."

* * *

**Hope this made you happy! (I mean, happy, horny… what's even the difference?)**


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